The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-07-21
THE QUEEN AND COURT.
Fetch worship of thosEng1lsh DrasyjnG
Room-At tho n1ob's Mercy.

Fetch worship of thesEnellsh Drawing
Room-At tho sIob's Mercy.
In England that institution called tho
drawing room has in it about rs mitch
nationality as may be found lii hny furin
of fetch Worship among the savages of
Africa. In the piercing east winds OF
March hundreds of delicate young. girls,
of middle aged ladies, and tottering old
dowagers bare their arms and necks hall
way to the waist, put on trains to which
the peacock's is dusty joke, aud set out
in broad daylight to; spend an hour or SO
: in their carriages, waiting their turn for
presentation or simple attendance. The
rudest roughs md coarsest scum of Lon
don gather round the carriages, standing
stationary for q quarter of an hour at q
time, or moving forward at,asfootap pace.
: They press close, fattening thet moses
against. the glass, making brutal marks
and passing round little jokes The show
is for them as well as for the immediate
actors, and they are not minded to lose
the benefit Of it. The pretty young girls
have to run the gauntlet Of nm admiration
that is more offensive than fattering.
The plain ones hear few unvarnished
words which make no pretense of gliding.
The stout old ladies with their quivering
acres of flesh displayed according to the
rules, and the thin quinquagenarians,
bronchitic, nervous, an@mic, are saluted
with derision and criticised without
mercy.
Only that certain kind of opu1ent beau
ty, which is radiant with health and dcs-
titute of nerves, enjoys the admiration,
which to others sounds more like insults
than praise; and this kind sits well for
ward in the carriage, with a white hand
aud arm and polished shoulder generously
displayed; and the roughs are not un-
grateful. This is the first Of the days
ordeals to be gone through by those who
attend the drawing rooms on their own
account or to present their daughters, rs
kind Of fetichistic dedication on their in
PRODUCTION to society and the marriage
market. Within the palace the crush is
even more painful than has been the slow
transit, semi nude, in broad daylight, in q
biting wind and through the gross tongued
crowd. A we'll dressed mob strives for
front places and first moments as stren-
uously rs its ragged brethren in the
streets. Its language Is more choice; and
its fists are not so free; bit its elbows are
as sharp, and 1t knows how to use themi
while pretty feet, daintily cased in silken
stockings and satin shoes, prove that high
heels are by no means inefficient pestles.
There have been drawing rooms where
the struggle has been severe indeed, SC
that the floor has been strewn with flow.
ers and ribbons and jewels, as the wrecks
and spoils Of battle; and whence the fail
flesh Of the sweet faced combatants has
carried away scratches and bruises as
: tokens of thecontest. And all for what
: To pass, in one rapid moment, before the
queen and her court, standing in semi
circle little behind hG mute and mo
tiol SIS as so many wax figures at Madame
TussIud's There is no kindly converse
tion, no pleasant speeches, as in the even
ing receptions in Italy, say, where the
queen receives the same as any other lady
and her dignity as queen enhances hel
sweetness as hostess. 1t is q mere lifeles!
form, out of which every fragment of hu
manity and common sense. has been ab
stracted. But all this sprsopal discomfor
and distress the women sot' England will
: lingly undergo for the sake of the feticl
they have created ennd' -nowsaflore. e.-5Ths
AroOna1lt sS Y.E